Race Result

Racer:	Richard Gendron
Race:	PSU Harrisburg Criterium
Date:	Monday, May 26, 2008
Location:	Harrisburg, PA
Race Type:	Other - Other
Age Group:	Male 40 - 44
Time:	0:56:19
Overall Place:	15 / 50
Comment:	CAT 4/5 - Attacking Fool

Race Report:

Harrisburg PSU Crit is a 2.4k rectangle with one rounded corner. The start line is half way along one of the longer edges of the rectangle. It starts out flat and 2 lanes wide sweeping around the rounded corner of the rectangle into a short, but steep downhill. At the bottom of the hill, the first turn is a 95 deg right hand turn into a short uphill then a long, wide, false flat along the other long edge of the rectangle. The second turn is a bit tight turning into a parking lot, the third/final turn, in the parking lot, turns, then widens a bit and then widens to four car lanes as you exit the parking lot on a slight downhill, the last 500 yards are all four car lanes wide consisting of a short steep downhill, followed by a short steep uphill that crests with 200 meters to a four lane finish. On Monday the wind was right in our faces coming down the finishing lane, so the short down, short up was a major bunching point. The race is custom made for a sprint cage match.

I watched the 50+ and the 40+ races while warming up in the north parking lot. Both were won by 2 man breaks. I could not figure out how they got and stayed away in such a simple course. The last six races I've been in were won by break aways, so I was thinking attack from the start. I only got one lap of the course between the 50+ an 40+ race. When we lined up for the CAT 4/5 race there were four or five teams with 3 or more young riders (Shirk, Kissena, Red team with "Hammer" on the shirt, and one other blue team). The field was more than 50 riders and was scheduled for 15 laps.

In the first lap I settled in about 7th. We took all three turns slower than my 4 year old. We rushed out of the turns making everyone get on the brakes and then on the accelerator. I was having none of that, so I moved up to 2nd on the second lap. We took all three turns at full speed and cruised through them. After a half lap or so, I pulled through and took my shift pulling and took the turns even faster. The energy I wasted on pulling was more than paid back by not having to brake into the turns. After pulling for a full lap, I waited for someone to pull through and it just would not happen, so I slowed to a really boring pace, My HR dropped to 158. Still no takers. So I yelled an expletive and attacked from the front. I got a Gap of about 25 yards and after a 1/4 mile was joined by two independent takers, who refused to work. The peleton found a will and caught us on lap 4.

I settled in and caught some recovery time. It did not take long, it felt like we were hardly moving. On lap six or seven, I decided that I might be able to get a split going in turn one. Everyone was braking back there on the downhill. I launched again, getting about 10 yards down the hill and took the turn at about 35 mph. and kicked it up the false flat. A 1/4 mile later I was joined by six riders, one of whom was rallying, "come on" let's go. I settled on the back of them and desperately tried to recover from the attack. Just when I thought it might work, we hit the uphill/downhill section and a nice stiff wind kicked us in the face. It did not take long, the Red team worked us back.

Discouraged, I settled in and looked for recovery. Watching the way the larger teams were riding, I was pretty sure that, if the surviving peleton, about 30+ riders, stayed together, I was going to get smoked in the sprint (that was my assessment at the time, and it is probably wrong). So I set my heart on a last desperate attack with 2.5 to go. I launched from about 8 back (mistake), but hit 1200w on the attack. I gave it everything I had did not look back. I was joined by one rider a few minutes later, I thought I had done it and we would ride away together, but he just sat there in my draft. Finally I turned around to see a gap of 25 yards behind us, my partner was smiling at me. He had been marking me for the blue teams.

So now I had two laps to recover, position and sprint. I did it Saturday, so I thought, "why not". By the time I recovered I was about 20 back. I looked for the wheel of the team I thought would take the sprint(Shirk). I found it about 3 seconds too late, they were taking off and I missed the train. I did my best to gain position, but got boxed in on the bunch point, AAAND, when I finally sprinted, I could only muster a measly 600/700w. That last attack was all I had. I rolled over the line in 15th.

Assesment
This is the first time I have felt strong enough to attack a group other than the B-ride at Wakey. My tactics were flawed. I attacked the first time out of frustration and the second out of boredom. If I had sat in and enjoyed the last 3rd of the the race, I could have put the 1200w down in the final sprint and grabbed a top 10 rather than a failed attack.

Mini Geek Data

Duration: 56:19
Work: 740 kJ
Distance: 22.53 mi

Max Avg
Power: 1218 219 watts
Heart Rate: 187 171 bpm
Cadence: 193 70 rpm
Speed: 35 24 mph

I am curious about how these recent strong racing numbers will translate into TT/Tri efforts.

I met Ramone (Artemis-IM). Actually, I thought "who's that guy without a helmet riding Bo's bike?" We chatted about racing solo on a wide open course like PSU. He told me to think about a race like that in three equal parts.

1- Do anything you want, just stay out of trouble
2- Be aggressive or sit in
3- Settle in for a sprint

Maybe next time.